Actually, the English word modest appears
only once in the King James Version of the Bible:

1 Timothy 2:9-10 In like
manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel,
with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or
gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women
professing godliness) with good works.

The Greek word for apparel in this text is
Katastole, meaning a long dress. Kata meaning
down- a garment flowing down; and Stole - a
long garment, covering or wrapping.

The Greek word for modest is
Kosmios, meaning orderly, well-arranged, decent, modest,
harmonious arrangement, or adornment. Modesty is also Biblically
applied to one's demeanor or behavior. This same Greek word is
translated good behavior in 1 Timothy 3:2 in the
qualifications of bishops.

Therefore, sisters are instructed to wear modest
long dresses (Kosmios Katastole). This Kosmios
Katastole not only specifies that the article of clothing should
be a dress, but also specifies that the dress should be of a suitably
long length.

The definition of modesty involves both one's
manner of dress and inward qualities. Biblical modesty starts within
a person but is ultimately demonstrated by their outward
appearance.

Modesty in the Ecclesia

The context of 1 Timothy 2:8-11, in which verses 9
and 10 address modesty, relates to public assemblies. Especially
during public worship, women are cautioned to be careful lest their
outward adornment pose a distraction both to themselves and to
others. At all times, when we assemble ourselves together in the
Ecclesia, we sisters should deliberately seek to cover our flesh with
shamefacedness, simplicity and self-restraint. Our apparel should be
Kosmios Katastole - a long, modest dress. Do short
dresses, sleeveless dresses, tight dresses, sun dresses, and low cut
dresses fit God's definition of modesty? If not, then they are
inappropriate in any public setting, and especially in the
Ecclesia.

Some do not apply this scripture to this "modern
day." But God's view of modesty is not variable. It does not depend
on the cultures that men create. It does not depend on the weather.
We read of no special circumstances in the Scriptures which set aside
this teaching and give liberty for women to display their nakedness.
Therefore, we must assume that even in this evil and perverse
generation, God still expects us to maintain His standards of
modesty.

Some may reply: "Who can say exactly how much
exposed skin is too much?" Consider this: Is anything more fleshly
than the flesh itself? Does anything embody the carnal nature more
than the body itself? Perhaps a better question to ask is: "What does
God think of our flesh?" Understanding this, shouldn't we endeavor to
keep as much of our flesh covered as possible, especially during the
assembling of ourselves together - when we should be seeking to
glorify God, and not ourselves?

Some other questions to think about:

How "vile" is this body (Phil
3:21)?

Is my body really a "body of sin" (Rom.
6:6)?

How shameful is nakedness in the sight of God
(Exo. 28:42; Isa. 47:3, Rev. 3:18)?

Why did God clothe Adam and Eve (Gen.
3:10,21)?

Why were the priests commanded to not walk up
steps to the altar (Exo. 20:26)?

How Shameful is Nakedness in the Sight of
God?

As the social cultures decline more and more
toward moral degradation, we ought not be surprised to see more and
more nakedness. Regardless of how the world undresses and exhibits
flesh, we must be aware of the shame of nakedness, and seek to dress
modestly. Our dress and behavior must be holy, peculiar and different
from the world. There is no doubt that the standard set by the world
today is vastly different from the Biblical standard. The customs of
the western world today urge women to uncover their bodies and the
fashion of these latter days glorifies nakedness. Today nakedness is
common and is displayed and viewed by many without blush or
shame.

Should we amend the scriptural standards of
modesty and discretion to comply with the prevailing opinions of our
culture? Shall we follow God's principles only as far as the bulk of
mankind would follow them? Do we claim our culture as our moral
guide? Surely not!

Think of the kinds of people that are popular
today in fashion design. Selah. These are the kinds of people
(clearly at utter enmity to God's Holy ways) that are deciding what
the women of America and other western countries will wear (or not
wear). You do not have to purchase the high priced fashions of those
like Versace to be affected by their ideas because their influence
always trickles down through the fashion industry as a whole and
copies of their trends are even seen at Wal-mart and
K-mart.

There was a thought-provoking syndicated newspaper
column written for the Chicago Sun-Times on June 8, 1979, by the late
Mike Royko, who reportedly was not religious:

On
Fashion

"Year after year, a handful of
suspicious-looking characters who call themselves clothing
designers issue their commands:

Wear your dress short and wear
boots and look like a hooker. . .

Now dress like a gypsy
fortuneteller.

Now look like a farm wife.

Now wear spike heels.

Now show your thighs.

And every time the pimps of fashion give the
word, all these enlightened female persons obediently trudge to
the clothing store."

There is no comparison between God's Scriptural
dress requirements and what is acceptable and popular at the moment
in our evil society, which bounces around from one evil imagination
to the next. God's moral requirements transcend all the
ages.

Nakedness Defined

If we depend on man to define nakedness we get a
multitude of conflicting opinions. In some eras exposing the foot or
the ankle in a public setting would have been considered nakedness.
In other times there would be varying degrees of exposing the leg all
the way up to the loins; and likewise exposing different levels from
the neck down past the bellybutton to the loins. Even during the same
time period opinions differ from one extreme to the other in
different areas of the world.

What was Adam and Eve's opinion? After the fall of
man in the Garden in Eden, Adam and Eve were aware that they were
naked and sewed fig leaves together and made aprons to cover their
nakedness. The Hebrew word for apron is chagowr which means
a girdle or belt which apparently only covered the loins. God
was not satisfied with man's solution to covering the shame of
nakedness and made coats of skins to cover them. The Hebrew word for
coats is Kethoneth which means a tunic or long coat.
The same Hebrew word is used for the coats of the priests including
the high priest (Exo 28:4, 39, 29:5, etc.).

It appears that even today in most of the western
world that men and women have come to the same conclusion as Adam and
Eve: choosing to cover their nakedness just in the area around the
loins that an apron might cover.

Unlike the world in which every man "does that
which is right in his own eyes," we must search out God's mind on the
matter of specific nakedness in the Scriptures. We get a hint in
Exodus 28:42 of a specific area of the flesh that God defines as
nakedness. God required specific clothing for the priests to insure
that their nakedness was covered -

And thou shalt make them
linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even
unto the thighs they shall reach:

There is another reference to nakedness in Isa.
47:1-3. This time nakedness of women is specified:

Come down, and sit in the
dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is
no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more
be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind
meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the
thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be
uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen:

God is using the illustration of a woman's shame
in nakedness to foretell the shame that would come upon the nation of
Babylon. In doing so, God gives us another definition of nakedness
relating to a woman. Note the similarity to the previous definition
regarding the nakedness of a man.

From these two passages we see that God views
uncovering our flesh above the knee as nakedness.

What does Kosmios Katastole- long dress
- modest apparel mean if it is not a definition of fashion that
continues to this day for God's children? When the question arises,
"when would clothing be too short?" we can feel confident in the
answer, "at least when it is above the knee."

There is no verse in the Old Testament or the New
Testament that presents a pointless moral teaching for the Ecclesia
of God, and there is no human practice of a moral character which the
Word of God does not claim to regulate (Heb. 4:12). These Scriptural
definitions of modest dress and nakedness apply to all God's children
in every age: Adam and Eve, the Israelites, the believers of the
first century, and the Christadelphians of today.

We should not allow ourselves to be led by ungodly
men, but by God. We should not walk (or dress) in the counsel of the
ungodly, but our delight should be in the law of God (Psa. 1). We may
take the warning of Rev. 3:18 to the Laodicean Ecclesia of our
day:

I counsel thee to buy of
me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white
raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve,
that thou mayest see.

God knew full well that in our present time the
Ecclesia would be dealing with both spiritual and physical nakedness
that apparently is so common that it would not be obvious to many
(but of course obvious to God!).

Nakedness is associated in the Scriptures with not
thinking clearly: with drunkenness (Hab. 2:15) and with lunatic
minds. In Luke 8:27 the Gadarene lunatic ware no clothes but
when he was cured of his lunacy he was clothed and in his right
mind (Luke 8:35).

Nakedness was also a sign of the degradation the
people of God learned from Egypt. While Moses was communing with God,
many of the camp of Israel fell to idolatry and evil actions which
included various stages of undress: Moses saw that the people were
naked and this nakedness was a shame . . . for Aaron had made
them naked unto their shame. . . (Exo. 32:25).

In Isa. 20:4 prisoners were marched away naked so
their shame would be public and magnified. Again and again the
Scriptures portray nakedness as a shame (Gen. 9: 21-25, Rev. 3:18,
16:15, etc.).

How can we apply these lessons to ourselves? Let's
now go to our mirrors and our closets. Do we see any shorts, dresses
or skirts that expose the thigh? What about swimsuits? I have not yet
found a swimsuit that can be considered modest by Scriptural
standards. Many of the so-called modest swimsuits today barely cover
what our undergarments cover. Surely if we were caught by brothers or
any man besides our husband in our undergarments we would shriek with
utter mortification and run for the nearest hiding place. Do we feel
the same about being seen by men in our swimsuits? Is there a
difference? It may be that any bathing suit you can buy today shows
portions of a woman's body that only her husband should be allowed to
see.

Distinction

Male and female were created different, both
physically and emotionally. From the beginning God set their
distinctive functions - specifically, in the divinely established
order of authority. This was God's express intention and He has
instituted certain social standards to strictly maintain this
difference. Any blurring of this difference between men and women is
an abomination to God. The scriptures require godly women to
carefully maintain their feminine distinction with modest feminine
clothing and meek, quiet feminine behavior.

By nature there is a marked difference between the
male and female, even in the animal kingdom. It is a shameful thing
to destroy the lines of demarcation that God has established. It is
not only a shame unto the person, it is an "abomination unto the
LORD thy God":

Deut. 22:5: The woman
shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall
a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are
abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Around the late 1960's and early 1970's the unisex
look was introduced. Webster's dictionary defines unisex clothes as
suitable for both sexes, not distinguishing between male and
female. Through the last 30 years the unisex look has not only
become fashionable but also acceptable. The unisex movement coincides
with the great increase in and promotion of open homosexuality in our
society. The unisex movement also coincides with principles of the
women's liberation movement which seeks a different place for women
than that set out by the Creator.

With this departure from women's God-appointed
role has come a serious breakdown in the strength of the family unit.
In the 1960's runaway husbands outnumbered runaway wives 300 to 1.
Today, runaway wives out number departed husbands nearly two to one!
The divorces in America today are initiated by women two to one.

Like the Garden in Eden, the fall of our society
in the latter days is a direct result of women's desire to act on
their own, independent from any submission to man or God. Women have
again boldly stepped out of their place and again the results are
tragic, reaching even into the Ecclesias of the Living
God.

Until the last few years women wore robes or
dresses that covered all or most of their legs. This was true world
wide. Only in the last generation has this standard of women's dress
been changed in the world.

Over the last 50 years (for the first time in the
history of the world) it has become not only acceptable but also
fashionable for women to wear pants. Historically, W.W. II factories
were the first time slacks started being worn by a large mass of
women. At the same time short hair, cigarettes, and immodest behavior
and dress began to become acceptable feminine behavior.

Historically pants pertain to men. Today pants
still are the article of choice for the great majority of men.

The word breeches in the Bible may have
reference to pants. The word breeches appears five times in
the Bible: Exodus 28:42; 39:28; Leviticus 6:10; 16:4; Ezekiel 44:18
and it is always used in relation to men. When referring to clothing,
the phrase gird up the loins is also found five times in the
Scriptures and again is always used only in relation to men.

A man might wear a long robe or covering, but
underneath that he wore breeches as not to show his nakedness. If he
needed to work or fight which required running or climbing or such,
he would tuck his coat in a belt and it would be out of his way. Yet
his breeches kept him modest.

If the breeches which are mentioned only in
relation to men in the Bible really are the same type of clothing as
the pants worn by the men in our modern society, then women wearing
pants today could fall into the category of being an abomination to
God as stated in Deut. 22:5. It's a thought-provoking question that
each sister must test on her own conscience.

Even today pants are a symbol of the man and the
man's authority. The standard public restroom picture signs have a
figure dressed in a skirt and a figure dressed in pants. No one is
ever confused as to which is which, even in this permissive society.
For years we have heard the saying, "You can tell who wears the pants
in that family." Pants are not only men's clothing, but they have
come to represent man's authority.

There is no question that pants pertain unto men,
both historically and Scripturally. Today, it is acceptable in the
western world for women to wear pants, but they originate from men.
Basically, pants are a style of men's clothing that now many western
women also freely wear.

Some say the abomination mentioned in Deut. 22:5
does not pertain to the present dispensation. However, there is a
difference between the Moral Law and the Ceremonial Law. For
instance, right in Deut 22, verse 22 prohibits adultery, verses 23-27
prohibit rape, verse 30 prohibits incest. God's moral laws stand
through all ages and dispensations. Christ's death abolished the
Ceremonial Law, but not God's moral laws.

Rom. 8:3-4 - For what the
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for
sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit,

Romans 3:31 - Do we then make void the
law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the
law.

God does not change His feelings about moral sin.
Of the gross moral sins mentioned in this one chapter in Deut. 22,
only verse 5 is said to be an abomination to God. It should be taken
seriously.

Is it not still an abomination to God for women to
wear that which pertains to a man? What if it is an abomination to
God for a women to wear pants or jeans or overalls?

Can pants, shorts or jeans which show a woman's
form, and hips (and even the outline of her undergarments) be
considered modest apparel? That is a question for each sister to
consider. Some sisters do not relate the men's breeches of the
Bible with the "women's" pants of today. Some sisters consider their
loose pants to be more modest than dresses and skirts. But even among
these sisters most would not think of wearing even their most modest
and formal pants to Memorial Meeting. There is something troubling
about pants to most every sister.

Whatever we choose to wear, we must make our
choices with the intention of upholding and establishing the clearest
possible distinction between men and women that God set in order from
creation. The holy women of old mentioned by Peter lived by the moral
restrictions of Deut 22:5:

I Peter 3:5 - For after
this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in
God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own
husbands.

God visibly separated his people Israel from the
world around them in food, dress, farming, worship, etc. You could
always distinguish a Jew by his dress and his behavior. With these
distinctions of separation, the Jews survived 1,900 years without a
home land. The Jews today are one of the few existing ancient
cultures. It was God's wise laws and providence that preserved their
identity.

God also desires to preserve the identity of the
Ecclesia. We must strive to remain separate in dress and behavior
from the world around us that we might not be swallowed up into the
masses of those who know not or choose to obey not God's Holy Ways.
When Christ appears will he find the faith distinctively preserved in
the earth?

A Woman's Most Important Clothing:
Righteousness and Humility

I Peter 3:3-5 - Whose
adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the
hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but
let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not
corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this
manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God,
adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own
husbands:

A sister's dress should be an expression of a meek
and quiet spirit, intended more to please the sight of God than the
sight of men.

I Peter 5: 5-7 - Likewise,
ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you
be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility:
for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that
he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.

Job 29:14 - I have put on
righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe
and a diadem.

Our earnest hope and desire is that by God's grace
we may soon to be arrayed in another special type of clothing that
God has designed - fine clean and white linen garments of salvation
and robes of righteousness.

Revelation 19: 6-8 - And I
heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the
voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings,
saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us
be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of
the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to
her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints.

Isaiah (61:10) speaks of being
clothed with the garments of salvation and the
robe of righteousness.

First we must concentrate on clothing the heart
with a meek, quiet spirit and with being clothed with humility and
righteousness. If our hearts are clothed with this type of clothing
we will delight to do God's will (Psa. 40:8; Rom. 7:22) and will make
sure that the clothing of our bodies is pleasing to God.

Has God Spoken?

On any and every issue of life the first question
we should ask is: Has God spoken? And if He has, we will not find his
commandments grievous nor allow His Word to fall to the
ground.

On the matter of modesty, dress and distinction,
God has clearly spoken and we would do well to meditate on what He
has said. We do not want to be as those who God says when I
called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did
evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted
not (Isa. 65:12).

Let the king's daughters first be clothed
with humility and with the robes of righteousness that we may be
all glorious within (Psa. 45:13) and then let us clothe
ourselves with distinctly feminine and modest coverings (Prov.
31:22) that the word of God is not blasphemed.